Overview

Many of the largest companies in the Carolinas have entrusted their class action defense to Robinson Bradshaw, including Wells Fargo (formerly First Union and Wachovia), Duke Energy, National Gypsum, SPX Corp., Family Dollar, CommScope, BB&T, Cone Mills, World Acceptance and aaiPharma. The subject matter has included federal and state securities claims, ERISA, employment discrimination, claimed wage and hour violations, claims for breach of fiduciary duty, consumer finance claims, antitrust, Truth-in-Lending and many others.

The firm and its litigation attorneys are recognized as leaders in the field by numerous legal publications, including Benchmark Litigation, Chambers USA®, Best Lawyers in America® and Super Lawyers®. We were the first law firm in the nation to receive the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award for our work as lead counsel in Hyatt v. Barnhart, a class action lawsuit challenging the termination and denial of Social Security benefits to thousands of disabled North Carolinians.

Our Class Actions Brief blog covers class action developments in North and South Carolina. Our editors report on recent cases involving all federal and state courts in the Carolinas, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Experience

Represented a national bank in multiple class and non-class actions in North Carolina and Georgia federal courts, the North Carolina Business Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The firm secured a successful result upholding the protection provisions of a bank merger agreement, while resisting a hostile takeover bid and defending against shareholder claims.

Represent a public company in the defense of an action brought by union retirees relating to the transition from group medical and prescription drug plans to the individual Medicare marketplace.

Defended the governor of North Carolina against class action claims challenging the constitutionality of employment practices in state government. The firm obtained a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit holding that discharges of policymaking state employees were presumptively lawful.

Represent a national health care firm with over 200,000 employees in a federal court class action alleging improper calculation of disability benefits.

Defended a national consumer finance company in a North Carolina Business Court class action in which the plaintiff class asserted claims of usury and claims arising under various federal and state consumer lending laws.

Defended class claims of 1,560 past and present employees, prevailing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on a motion to severely limit the scope of the class-based claims, and resolved the remaining claims for an amount within the anticipated costs of defense.

Defended a North Carolina corporation against a class plaintiff’s federal securities and ERISA claims relating to pension plan contributions. The firm obtained a judgment from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina that the defendant was not liable.

Defeated a motion to certify a class of claimants seeking to recover in excess of $100 million based on defeasance of commercial loans, and secured the denial of a petition for immediate review from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

Defeated the plaintiff’s motion to certify a class of plaintiffs seeking to recover against a national bank based on allegedly improper bank service charges. The North Carolina Superior Court denied the motion to certify the class and granted a motion to compel arbitration, and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina dismissed the plaintiff’s subsequent federal action.

Represented class opt-out plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation matters in the Western District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania involving price-fixing in the textile and chemical industries.

Defended a national online company against putative class action claims arising from the alleged theft of consumer information. The putative class actions were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, which granted a motion to stay pending arbitration in accordance with the plaintiffs’ customer agreements.